Can I love you?
by iExpress
Summary: Summer came along and this year, it brought something strange and new to Giroro. This will be the time to remember.
1. What's with that smile?

It wasn't the first nor the last time that Giroro had given many hours of his thoughts to a certain red headed girl. It wasn't the first time nor the last time he'd forgotten to remind himself that he's a soldier and as such should act more appropriately, as he indulged into the fantasies of holding her hand, stroking her hair and sharing dinner with her. It wasn't the first nor the last time he'd finally snapped out of it hours later and slapped himself for acting like a school girl.

The Hinata family gathered in the living room along with the rest of the Platoon, where they enjoyed a game of charades after dinner. Ever since the summer days came, the household had been much merrier, with Aki taking some days off and school being out. Every day, they would indulge into a different activity, as if those days were never going to come back again once the summer was gone. It was a different kind of mood, a new kind of mood that Keroro thoroughly enjoyed, and has used as an opportunity to start the official summer holiday of Keroro Platoon. No one was sure whether such a thing was official or not, but Giroro seemed to be the only one who minded it, still being convinced the invasion should be done as soon as possible as a part of their duty. As such, he decided to skip the game evening and remained outside, wanting to remain alone with his thoughts, sitting on the stone step, and baking potatoes – characteristically, his mind and eyes had kept coming back to the red headed girl who had just successfully portrayed the meaning of _"stupid frog"_ in body language.

It wasn't the first nor the last time that Giroro thought his sense of duty was getting in the way of him having fun. It wasn't the first nor the last time he wished he could be more relaxed and more in the mood for games like these.

It was, however, the very first time, that Natsumi Hinata had suddenly taken a certain kind of interest in his typical behavior. Their eyes had met for a fragment of a second, and Giroro immediately looked back into the yard, regretting stealing a glance of her. He span the stick with the sweet potato on it nervously in his hands, hearing the approaching footsteps.

Leaving Keroro to define whatever he was trying to define with his awkward dancing to Aki and Kururu, Natsumi had gotten up from the sofa and walked over to the step he was sitting on, slipping through the open door. She was about to call him in, Giroro deduced. He'd refuse, he further concluded.

"Don't you want to join the fun?"

Figures she'd ask that.

"No thanks. I don't prefer playing such games, at the moment."

"Oh, OK then."

Figures she'd say that.

"Then, I'll stay here and keep you company.

… He didn't figure this would happen.

Natsumi Hinata sat next to him and stared up at the starry sky, thankfully unaware of his suddenly red face and sweaty palms.

"I can see why you'd want to remain here, though. It is so hot at this time of year, and evening chill is just right."

"U-uh." Giroro confirmed clumsily. He gripped the stick tighter, as if his life depended on it. He tried to clear his head, but it was beyond him why Natsumi would leave the comfort of the game evening to join him in doing nothing. Obviously, it was getting to him to much – either that, or blood rushed too fast to his head – but he started feeling dizzy. It must've been obvious.

"Giroro, are you alright?" She sounded mildly alarmed. No wonder; in the next few seconds, Giroro realized he was dangerously close to face planting into the grass. He straightened his back and decided to lie down.

"I'm- I'm fine, I just need to lie down for a moment… must be the heat…"

"Well no wonder, who of sane mind would start a campfire in the middle of the summer?" Natsumi laughed, promptly throwing some of the nearby gravel onto the small fire and dowsing it rather quickly. Giroro didn't say anything, lying down on his back on the cold stone and turning his eyes skywards – its distance had helped his dizziness and felt more at ease. As the fire went down, he could breathe in more of the fresh air, too.

Sighing in relaxation, he wiped his forehead with his left hand and then left it lying above his head, his right arm dangling freely down and resting in the grass – it was a very uncharacteristic pose for him, but it stretched him and helped him loosen his body, something he desperately needed at the moment. He was just about to completely relax, when Natsumi sat down again – it was then that he realized she was sitting incredibly close to his hand. He stole a quick glance of her.

She was indeed sitting so close to him. Her own hand had been resting on the step, barely several centimeters away from his own. He had only then realized he had subconsciously wiped his somewhat sweaty hand on his head. Stupid, he thought. Why in the world would she grab his hand?

Then something fantastic happened.

Giroro didn't know what she had done. Stretched herself, adjusted her position, Natsumi did something and for a moment he could hear her skirt ruffling against the stone as she did whatever she had done – but when Natsumi once again settled her hands on stone, her pinky and her ring finger… two of her delicate fingers had somehow, somehow, _somehow_ ended up in his outstretched hand. Lying on his palm. This wouldn't be weird if Natsumi had realized her mistake right away and pulled her hand away. Giroro knew well how sensitive Pekoponians were to touch, how specific touches were reserved for specific persons; it was a social norm – and from what he's learned, this was definitely not the kind of touch a Pekoponian would share with a friend.

Instead, Natsumi had remained at ease. Giroro all but went mad wondering how in the world did she not notice where she put her hand when a fantastic thought went through his head, an improbable, crazy, hopeful thought. Maybe she had an idea. Maybe she figured.

_Maybe she knew_.

He couldn't help but steal another glance of her face, as terrified as he was of the fact she might notice it. But she didn't. She looked at the distant stars with a sparkle in her eyes and… the smile. Blissful, mysterious, happy, divine, cute smile that he had never seen before, the kind of smile she had never graced him with_._ Was it his current position that messed with perception? Was it dizziness? Was it the summer air? Was it simply him?

_ Why, Natsumi, why are you smiling like that? It can't be because of me. It ISN'T me. What is it?_

Giroro was staring, he realized, so he looked at the sky instead. Minutes. Not seconds, full-fledged, 60-seconds-each long minutes passed as the two simply sat there, Natsumi's fingers in his trembling hand. It was, as he was staring into the sky, that Giroro started gathering courage. He swallowed once, twice, ten times, who knew how many times to heal his dry throat. He breathed in quietly and deeply and still felt redness in his cheeks. His tried to remain cool but he started to sweat even more profusely. He tried to relax, but his horribly tense back hurt against the cold stone step.

And it was in that horrible, terrifying, decisive moment where he nearly cried out of concern, where he felt never happier and never more horror-struck in his entire life, that he, at the same time, decided to damn it all and decided he simply couldn't put his hope into something that wasn't going to happen – and his hand bent and his fingertips lightly, lightly touched at her hand.

He remembered every detail of the lightest touch he had ever given. He remembered his index touching the nail of her ring finger. He remembered the next two of his fingers gently touching at her joints. He remembered his pinkie accidentally caressing her own. It was light. Light. It was just several finger, touching awkwardly, weirdly, slightly coated in sweat on his part, still and stuck for reasons Giroro couldn't comprehend.

His hand was shaking. He wanted to say something, and he didn't know what. He wanted to know what was going on, but hated to ruin the beauty of it, selfish as it felt. At that moment, his duty as a soldier was the last thing that could cross his mind. All that was left were questions, hopes, fragments of courage and utter and complete confusion.

_Why did this happen? How did it come to this? What should I do? What is __**she**__ doing? Can I…? Oh, would you… would you, please? Natsumi… Natsumi, would you please tell me… tell me if it's alright, if it's OK, I only need __**you**__ to tell me, to confirm… could I ever… am I allowed to… to simply, and only… without the oddity… without any ties, without any obligations… would you let me…_

_ Can I love you?_

Her fingers slid out of his hand. It wasn't harsh or fast nor rushed. It was gentle and normal and, Giroro was shy to admit, pleasantly ticklish. He heard her feet tapping on the stone beneath him and he finally remembered how to see. He sat up swiftly and gave Natsumi a bewildered look she didn't quite caught onto.

"Oh, mum is calling me!" Giroro didn't remember hearing Aki's voice; no surprise there, for the sound of it had been buried underneath the sounds of questions in his head. Natsumi got up. She shot him her regular, dazzling smile. "Thank you for company, Giroro."

And just like that, she was gone. Leaving the poor Keronian wondering, leaving him to reevaluate everything he thought he knew and leaving him to figure out just what kind of summer this was going to be.


	2. Why are you doing that?

The month of July had yet to drag itself over, and the afternoon air was already heavy and hot. Not one member of Hinata household dared to go outside during the heatstroke that covered most of Japan. Instead, they enjoyed the summer breeze and cool lemonade. The platoon didn't want to spend their days locked down in the basement anymore, because there were no windows to let in any fresh air, nor did Natsumi fancy the idea of all the ACs working all the time. It became a regular occurrence for all of them to hang out in the house together and as such, more than often there was a lot of noise and chit chat – today however, heat had gotten to everyone and nobody was in mood to talk much. Keroro and Tamama have devoted themselves to building more Gundam models while Kururu, as always, had been working on some contraption of his. Dororo had visited too that day, and found entertainment in observing Kururu's work.

Giroro gave up polishing his weapons because in this sun, merely touching the hot metal on his guns caused his fingers to burn. He gave in to doing nothing useful for a change, which drove him crazy for a while – until he found joy in glancing at Natsumi, that is and leading a most once-sided chat with her; he may not have been a good speaker, but he would've listened to her all day long.

He still vividly remembered the evening a couple of days ago and still had difficulties comprehending what had happened. He had tried to convince himself many times that Natsumi never noticed what she had done, never noticed just how nervous he got back then. And yet, whenever she looked at him, it felt like a completely different thing and in the end, Giroro simply didn't know anymore.

What suddenly broke Giroro away from his thoughts was a pleasant wind that blew into his face; he had realized Dororo had been waving a fan at him.

"I know we're all hot, but you're looking particularly red. Are you sure you're not sick, Giroro-dono?"

"A-ah, no, no, I'm fine." Giroro breathed. "Thank you, Dororo."

"No fair, Dororo-senpai!" Tamama suddenly sounded off. "I want fanning, too! Cool me, cool me!"

"Ah, me too, me too!"

"I wouldn't mind some fresh air either, ku ku ku~"

Dororo ended up waving fans at half of the platoon, while he calmly suggested that by simply staying cool, they'll feel cool as well. His words fell on deaf ears. Natsumi, however, didn't have much patience for all of them trying to get Dororo's attention, noisy as they were, and soon shooed them all away.

Suddenly a terrible shriek tore through the house.

Hinata Aki had opened the fridge to make more of the lemonade, and realized in terror that nothing but ice and water were still inside of it – and there was nothing more horrible in Hinata household than the lack of lemonade during the heatstroke. Once they got over the good and bad reasons to scream like that, a very heated discussion of who will sacrifice their sanity to the merciless sun to go to the store and get some refreshments ensued.

"Tsk. Enough." Giroro suddenly announced. Everybody in the room shot him strange looks as he proclaimed:

"Fighting about it is pointless. I'll go and get it."

"That's our Corporal Giroro!" Keroro happily accepted, relieved he wasn't chosen to go and get the hard task done, like he predicted Natsumi would make him do. "Going where no other Keronian or Pekoponian dares to go!"

"You're just being lazy, Captain-dono." Dororo teased. As per usual, his comment went unheard by many – with the exception of Giroro.

"Nothing new there, now is it?" He scoffed. "It's alright. A real soldier is supposed to easily withstand anything, even heats like this."

"The last time you were exposed to big temperatures, I had to go and save you, if I recall correctly." Natsumi threw in teasingly. Giroro fumbled over his words to try and justify himself, but Natsumi added in quickly:

"I'm just joking Giroro; but we'll go together. It is no fun going alone, but it'll be fun with company."

"Y-you don't need to bother!" Giroro obviously blushed, but Natsumi set her mind onto it already: "Hold on, I'm just going to get dressed into something lighter." She skipped off to her room.

Keroro used the opportunity to give Giroro a sly look. "Going on a date, are we, Giroro?"

"D-date?!" Giroro nearly fell over at the sound of that word, but Dororo was quick to calm him down.

"Now now, Giroro-dono, don't fret. Sergeant is just making a joke here."

"Right, right, Giroro. No reason to get so upset." Keroro snickered. Giroro was getting seriously embarrassed and was almost regretting having decided to help, but he forgot all about it when Natsumi got back, dressed in a simple, but very Giroro-effective white summer dress.

"Much better! You do have your disguise, I hope?" Natsumi added with a pout.

"Indeed he does!" Kururu suddenly perked up, pulling out, of all things a small collar and handed it to Natsumi. Giroro immediately felt his cheeks heating up at the thought of wearing such a thing.

"I have a new disguise device for you to test out, Giroro-senpai."

"Just what is that?" Giroro asked, not at all trusting the contraption. Plus, it looked embarrassing. Like a pet collar.

"It'll make you appear as a human child to everyone but the one who puts the collar onto you." Kururu explained. "The collar has a special field which distorts the vision of you into something else, in this case a child. But having detected Natsumi-san as the last person who touched it, the deception will not work on her. Quite a useful thing provided it works. You're hidden from everyone in an effective way without confusing your ally; plus, nobody would ever suspect a child had done anything." He laughed evilly again, naturally drawing a very suspicious look from Natsumi.

"Are you sure you're not just executing some secret plan? Because if you are, you'll be in a lot of trouble." Natsumi deadpanned. Kururu laughed.

"Ku ku ku~ don't worry, Natsumi-san. It is perfectly safe. For now~" He added ominously, his creepy laughter filling the room. Giroro cringed.

"Whatever, let's just get it over with."

"Right." Natsumi opened the collar easily and gently put it around Giroro's neck. He tensed up as her fingers touched his neck and avoided looking her in the eye, memory of the way their hands touched the other day fresh in his mind.

He didn't feel a thing as collar snapped into its place and let out a small beep, indicating it had started working, but aside from him and Natsumi, everyone else suddenly let out impressed cheers and praises.

"That's our Kururu-dono!" Dororo commented, amazed at the work. Aki had clapped her hands, delighted at what she was seeing and immediately noting down the character for future uses in a manga.

"Kururu-kun, how come we haven't used this device in some appropriate manner already?!" Keroro demanded to know, astonished at what he was seeing.

"It is only a prototype." Kururu proceeded to explain. "It still has many fixes to go through – I should warn you, the battery is at the moment very weak. It'll only run for one hour."

Giroro and Natsumi could not see what he had looked like, but Tamama was quick to describe what he was seeing, amazed as well:

"Woooo! Kururu-senpai, not fair! I want to look this cute!" He jealously added as he surrounded Giroro. "The fluffy blonde hair, the big round eyes and those chubby cheeks!" Before he knew what he was doing, he pinched and stretched Giroro's cheeks around, much to his chagrin.

"That would be enough!"

"Come, let's go already." Natsumi hurried. "We've wasted enough time in here as it is."

Despite feeling weird going out while he practically wasn't wearing a disguise, it was nice not to get cramped into some random suit. It was by far Kururu's most sophisticated invention so far, especially for a prototype.

Giroro had realized he never in fact took a walk with Natsumi. Not properly anyway. Not like this, without any tensions. Just going to get some refreshments. The realization of the simplicity of the act made him nervous.

"Ah, this heat." Natsumi complained, waving a floral patterned fan. "It is at times like this I wish I had a parasol. I mean I know it's old fashioned, but it would serve its purpose."

"Y-yeah." Giroro agreed, quite dumbfounded that they were making chit chat like this. It depressed him that even after all this time he wasn't quite used to making idle talk with her. Then he realized it was probably because they were alone.

"S-so how far is that store of yours? I don't think I've ever been there."

"I'm honestly surprised that stupid frog never sent you there for whatever he might've been planning during all his silly invasion ideas." Natsumi rolled her eyes. "It's a ten minute walk, by the park. We'll have plenty of time until your disguise wears off, don't worry.

The fact they had so little time was in fact exactly what he found worrisome, as he wanted to spend some time with her. Nervous as he was, he found this surprisingly pleasant.

They soon arrived to the store and while Giroro didn't want to admit it, he had already started feeling weaker. The Sun was having an especially strong impact on him today. Natsumi didn't seem half as affected by it, nothing more than reddened cheeks and a tiny drop of sweat on her temple indicating that she was walking on heated streets. He, on the other hand, regretted not bringing a bottle of water. Curses. What kind of soldier was he without the necessary supplies?!

Natsumi gathered up some lemons into a plastic bag and had been looking for the drinks on sale. Giroro followed her peacefully, merely trying to stay patient and preserve energy until they arrived home. He felt way too embarrassed to come up to Natsumi and complain about the heat and feeling weak. If anything, he'd then not only look like a child, but act like one as well, he figured.

He would perhaps succeed in his intention to stay put but then he bumped into a giant ice cream chest. Curious, he stood on his toes as high as he could and peeked over. Never did boxes of ice cream look as alluring as they did in that moment. Popsicles and ice cream bars of all colours and shapes took up a large part of the freezer and there was a plethora of freezies of different flavours. Although he was never a big fan of sweets, colourful, tri-flavour fruit popsicles looked particularly tasty and fresh and cool and…

The more he thought of it, the thirstier did he become, but he'd been slightly entranced by the sight – so much that he never noticed a lady that had came up from behind him.

"Hello there, hun! Are you lost? Can I help ya with somethin'?"

Giroro turned around. If he thought Hinata Aki was tall, this was something entirely different. The sales lady was so tall, round and huge that Giroro was positive he never met such a gigantic person. Then again, he reminded himself, he'd usually go out in a modified body of a fully grown man. This was definitely a new perspective and now he realized just how inconvenient this method of disguising could be for any crazy plans Keroro might have in the future.

He also remembered this lady here was seeing him as a child, and as a soldier he found it quite embarrassing that she had been treating him as one, too. He couldn't help it, however. He was going to say he was alright and didn't need any help, when he realized one thing – his voice didn't change. If his deep voice wouldn't be suspicious, he didn't know what would be. So he merely stood there, sweating profusely, by now feeling like he was going to faint from all the heat and, he didn't want to admit it, slightly terrified of the huge woman towering over him; in particular because he didn't feel like he could do anything if anyone found out about him.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Giroro felt vulnerable.

"Na-Natsu—"He squeaked in a silly voice, not sure of what he should do. He helplessly reached for Natsumi, who never noticed the predicament he was in.

"Summer? Why, I know it is summer, lil' one. his damn heat must be the reason why you're lookin' at all that ice cream so longingly, huh?" She laughed loudly and heartily and it finally attracted Natsumi's attention. She curiously walked over to him and had to stifle a laugh when Giroro subtly hid behind her.

"Excuse me, is something the problem?" She asked, slightly concerned Giroro had attracted some unwanted attention. The sales lady laughed as she pointed our Giroro's interest in ice cream and the two had a short chat, apparently being acquainted to each other. Two minutes later, they had bid each other goodbye and the sales lady went after her business.

"I-I'm so sorry, Natsumi! I didn't mean to cause any—" He was convinced she'd find this a pain and would scold him over keeping them here for too long, but instead, he heard her laugh softly.

"It's fine, Giroro. I must admit, it was quite amusing. Great and powerful warrior feeling threatened by a sales lady." She out her tongue out.

"T-that's not what it was…" Giroro tried explaining in vain. Natsumi paused as her eyes scanned the chest. "…you want one of these?" She gestured towards the ice cream. Giroro shook his head vigorously to protests and it was all he needed to do for Natsumi to see right through him. She rolled her eyes and opened the chest.

"No '_no's_'. Pick your flavor." It was the tone that clearly indicated the discussion was over. Defeated, Giroro had peeked into the chest. The sight of him trying to look into it, small as he was, was downright adorable and Natsumi had to try hard to suppress a giggle – it was even funnier when he tried reaching for it.

"Need some help?"

"No no, I got thi—" Before he could say anything else, she picked him up so he'd have a better view. Even the cool air of the freezer didn't help the radiating heat in his cheeks.

"There, it is obviously easier this way. Go on, pick one."

Trembling slightly, he pointed at the popsicle of bright colours.

"Nice choice! It's one of my favorite fruit flavours." She picked out enough of popsicles for everyone at home and soon, they were going back with two bags worth of lemons, juices and ice cream.

"Giroro, this sun…" Natsumi pondered out loud. Was it that obvious, Giroro wondered angrily? Still, if they kept going, perhaps he'd manage to come home without any bad consequences.

"I'll be fine. We aren't too far from home now, are we?"

"That may be so, but if you faint on me, who's going to help me carry these?" She teased. Giroro chuckled at her joke and it only inspired her further to insist on a small rest. "Come, let's take a break to eat those popsicles."

They took a turn to sit down on a bench in the park. It was surprisingly empty, but Giroro figured any other normal person was enjoying the cool air at home and eating ice cream in front of television with AC working. In a way, he had to admit, he was happy about the empty park.

They stopped by the water fountain to drink from it. His strength instantly returned upon drinking the water and with it, he managed to process a few very incredible thoughts. He was about to sit in a park, with his beloved Natsumi; and eat an ice cream. By all accounts, it wasn't one, but it felt like a date. It was a silly, childish thought that filled Giroro up with happiness.

He really acted like a school girl on a date, he thought embarrassingly.

"Here you go, Giroro." When they sat down, Natsumi offered him the popsicle he had eyed with such interest before. Upon tasting it, Giroro gratefully noticed it really wasn't too sugary, but rather fruity and refreshing.

"Is it good?"

"It's very tasty. Ah, thank you!" He blurted out, realizing he never properly expressed gratitude.

"It's fine." Natsumi beamed. They were silent for a while, enjoying the popsicles, when a couple of minutes later, Natsumi started to laugh and Giroro felt his heart sink into his stomach out of embarrassment – his popsicle had melted quicker than he anticipated and he was having quite an unfortunate time trying to shake it off his hand – instead, it had dripped all over his fingers.

"Man, you really haven't eaten many of these in your life, huh Giroro? Need help with that?"

"I'm- I'm not a child, you know!" Giroro blurted out, by now slightly pissed off. When Natsumi had looked confused by his outburst, he immediately regretted it. Natsumi hadn't done a single thing to deserve such a harsh reply.

"Ah… I'm sorry, Natsumi. It's just that… you've been taking care of me today, for which I'm truly grateful… but I don't like to depend on anyone. If anything, it should be the other way around, I think."

Natsumi smiled and rolled her eyes again.

"There you go being too serious again. I don't know how do you do things on your planet, but here on Earth, it is normal to help a fellow being." She explained. "Even if it's silly little thing like this; it's where the charm of it lies. Don't you agree?" She smiled _that_ kind of smile and Giroro had once again wondered what it was that made her smile in such a way.

"...I guess I can see now where you're coming from." He nodded, feeling surprisingly relaxed for a change. He could feel the blush in his cheeks weakening.

"That's right. Now eat that thing up we can take care of your hand."

Once done with popsicles, Giroro followed her to the water fountain. She pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed it with water.

"Ah, thank you." Giroro reached for the wet handkerchief, expecting her to hand it to him.

But something amazing had happened instead. And again, just like that time before, he couldn't comprehend why and how did it happen nor what prompted such a thing.

Natsumi cupped Giroro's hand in her own and gently pressed the handkerchief down against his palm, slowly brushing at the sticky remains of a popsicle. He thought she'd stop. He was waiting for her to stop and allow him to continue by himself. But she never did. Instead, still wearing that blessed, wonderful smile of hers, she cleaned his palm gently and slowly.

The incredible part of it was her fingers. Giroro couldn't understand why, nor did he at that moment particularly care, but her fingers were a bit too careful, a bit too exploratory, like she had never seen his hand before; like his hand was incredibly interesting and nice to touch, which was impossible. His hands, if anything, were rough from handling the weapons, from training, from battling. What in the world prompted her to do this?

The handkerchief slipped away from his palm and between each and every one of his fingers, Natsumi effectively and softly removing any remains of the popsicle on it. Scent of lemons. Her hands still carried the scent of fresh citrus she had picked at the store. It was almost intoxicating.

Feeling more awkward than ever, Giroro simply couldn't stay silent this time, for this was much too obvious for him, much too romantic, simply too much to handle without feeling like he's floating; he was simply too much on the receiving end, and he figured Natsumi couldn't have the slightest idea of how wonderful this made him feel. It felt almost unfair to her.

"N-Natsumi, it's fine, I can take care of it myself."

"It's OK, I'm nearly done anyway." Natsumi replied simply. She didn't look particularly… anything. It was just Natsumi, smiling her beautiful smile and, for some reason, cleaning his hand with such care that he was surprised he didn't melt just like that popsicle did.

_Why?_

She folded the handkerchief and wiped his hand dry with the clean side of it.

_Do you have any idea whatsoever what this does to me?_

Much to his utter confusion, she then simply held his hand, checking it out for any more spots.

_You should stop it. But please, don't._

For several of the longest seconds ever.

_Because it feels wonderful, Natsumi._

_..._

"There. All done."

Giroro kept staring at his hand.

"Come on, let's go before those popsicles melt."

He chuckled to himself.

_My, that was mean, Natsumi. It was mean and wonderful._

"Yeah, let's go."

He followed her, trying his damnest to prevent himself from losing the little he had left of his cool, trying desperately and unsuccessfully to hide his growing smile in the bag of lemons.

* * *

"Took you long enough! Where the heck have you been?!"

"Shut it, stupid frog! Since you're so snappy, next time you'll be the one going to get these."

"Gero! Just kidding, just kidding, Natsumi-san! Thank you for your service~!"

"Who do you think I am, providing you service?!"

The usual bickering continued for several more minutes. Once everyone got another glass of lemonade, though, it stopped effectively. Peace has returned to Hinata household with re-occurrence of citrusy goodness.

The strong scent of freshly squeezed lemon juice spread through the living room, and made Corporal Giroro the happiest Keronian- no, the happiest person in the whole street and wider.


	3. Would you let me relax already?

"What~? You mean now?!"

"But mum, you promised us a movie night!"

"We've been talking about it for days!"

"And it's the Alien series! You simply don't miss out on Alien!"

"Didn't you say you had a whole month off?"

"ALIEN, mum!"

"Natsumi, Fuyuki!" Hinata Aki waved her hands defensively, "I know you're upset but there's really not much I can do about it. There is a very special one shot coming up that has been the hype of the manga world for a while now and my colleagues are behind with editing because SOMEONE accidentally spilled coffee on the drafts." She sighed in exasperation. "It is only one night, alright? We can easily leave it for tomorrow!"

"But mum, tomorrow I'm going out to watch stars with Serg!"

"Well, maybe the day after tom-"

"No no, the day after I'm going to do homework with Saburo-senpai! It is a one-in-the-lifetime chance!"

"I'm sure it isn't, but, maybe the day after that, we could-"

"No can do, I'm going to a supernatural phenomena museum, and—"

"Ok, stop."

Hinata Aki breathed in deeply as to calm down, and then flashed her children with the best of her motherly smiles.

"I'm really sorry, Natsumi, Fuyuki. I'll do my best to make us some free time next week. How does that sound?"

"Well, I guess that's fine…" Fuyuki finally agreed. "Man~ I really wanted you to see Alien, though…" He mumbled something else about 'must-watch' before heading for the kitchen.

Natsumi had a solemn look on her face.

"I guess that's understandable, mum. We'll just postpone it. No biggie." She finally smiled. Her mother ruffled her red hair.

"Thank you, Natsumi. Well then, I'll be going. The sooner I go, the sooner I'll be finished. If we're fast, I might be back for breakfast!" She gaveNatsumi her famous blink and a wave before grabbing her bag and leaving the house.

Natsumi waved back, her smile fading just as the door slammed.

"Geez. Stupid work…" She mumbled quietly to herself. Hinata Aki was a desperately busy woman during the year and that she could take. She was rarely at home for any of the meals of the day, and that, she could put up with. However, when her bosses asked for her to come in during her vacation, it was the one thing Natsumi couldn't take with quite the same amount of understanding.

"Man, if I could, I'd simply blast her whole damn workplace to bits."

"That can be arranged." Came the creepy voice from behind her. Natsumi jerked, the yellow Keronian falling into her view.

"Ah! You creep, you scared me!"

"Ku ku ku. Can't say it wasn't my intention~" Kururu chuckled. Natsumi frowned.

"Whatever are you here for, anyway? You better not be up to anything suspicious."

"Not at all. Leader sent me."

"What? Stupid frog did? What for?"

"After overhearing that you won't be having a movie night with Hinata Aki…"

"Whenever did he overhear that?!"

"…leader generously offered that the whole platoon provide you with company instead."

"A movie night with stupid frog and the rest?" Natsumi wondered for a moment – then a bright smile decorated her face, much to Kururu's wonder. "That sounds like fun. Ah, but we're not watching any of _your_ weird movies. I've seen the kind of weird things you look up on the internet."

"Ku ku ku~ you haven't seen anything yet! Ku~kukuku~"

"I really don't wanna know." Natsumi scolded.

"Well then, I'll inform the Leader."

All he did, though, was press a button.

"Natsumi-dono~!" Keroro suddenly emerged seemingly out of nowhere, along with Tamama at his side, promptly scaring Natsumi into falling on the floor.

"Wha, what is this?!"

"Movie time, naturally. Didn't we just agree to have a movie night?"

"It's 3 pm, stupid frog." Natsumi spouted. Keroro blinked.

"Ah, so it is. Well then, all of us arrange in the living room at exactly 8 pm! Tardiness shall not be tolerated!"

"Ay, ay, Mr Sergeant!" Tamama agreed. As quickly as they came, they disappeared. Natsumi got up and dusted herself off.

"Well, since we're growing in numbers… might as well invite Koyuki-chan."

It was a good thing that she decided to do so, because it promptly meant Dororo was invited as well. And even Natsumi knew how much Dororo hated being forgotten.

There was only one person left who supposedly wasn't informed yet.

"I wonder if he's at his usual post."

* * *

"Giroro?"

The Keronian in question jerked, almost ripping apart the photograph in his hands. Faster than he knew he even could, he slid the photo of the read-headed Pekoponian back into the slot on his belt, took a big breath to calm himself down, then poked his head out of his tent into the hot sun. Thank goodness the summer was in its full glory, because his soft blush his body usually assumed around Natsumi could have easily been interpreted as sunburn. Natsumi have him a smile as their eyes met.

"Here you are. I assume you have nothing planned for the evening?"

"Planned?" Giroro frowned at the implication of the word and scoffed. "No, I don't have anything planned aside from doing the same thing I've been doing since our Platoon went on a supposed official vacation."

"Which is?"

"Absolutely nothing." Giroro bitterly noticed.

"Ah. Well in that case, you might, maybe, be happy to hear we'll be having a movie night, all of us. You should join us."

"A movie night?" Giroro questioned incredulously.

"You do know what a movie night is, no?" Natsumi wondered, making the Keronian blush harder at her assumption – he wasn't _that_ inept at social interaction and activities.

"Of course I know what it is! ... Though, to be honest, I can't say I've been to many."

"This is a perfect opportunity then!" Natsumi beamed. "Everybody is going to be there. All of your frog friends, Fuyuki and Koyuki-chan."

"...Your mother?"

"Ah, well…" Natsumi told him in short about the change of plans.

"So, Keroro suggested we all have a movie night instead."

Despite not being the brightest when it came to reading the mood, Giroro noticed Natsumi's smile fall a bit as she told him of how her mother was too busy.

"Natsumi, are you alright? Y-you seem concerned."

"… to be honest, I've been really looking forward to spending some more time with mum." By then, she sat down on one of the bricks surrounding the campfire spot, indulged into their conversation. "I know we have plenty of time now that the vacation is here, but this is something we've practically been waiting for a whole year. So I'm not completely OK with it, to be honest…" she caught on to what she was saying and chuckled a bit hollowly. "How selfish of me to say that, I'm sorry! I must have sounded horrible."

"N-no, I can understand that perfectly." Giroro defended, her story reminding him of his own family. "In fact, my father was quite busy, being a soldier in the Keron army. He was a good father and a good soldier but, not always around."

"I didn't know that." Natsumi mused. "I guess it makes sense. No wonder you're so much into military."

"And proud of it." Giroro added, nodding. Natsumi rolled her eyes a bit.

"Well Mr-Soldier-and-proud-of-it, this night you'll be spending relaxing. As well as many other nights."

"What do you mean?"

Natsumi got up, this time looking at him with a bit more stern look than before.

"Well, since you frogs apparently DO plan on having an actual vacation, you might as well relax for a change, no?"

"I-I guess that's true." He left it at that – he would be feeling a bit silly if he replied honestly and simply told her - he didn't know _how_ to relax.

"Great then! We'll be starting at 8 pm!" And with another one of her cute smiles, she was gone.

Giroro spent the next ten minutes slowly realizing they had one of the more normal conversations. It made him happier than anything, and he wondered if this is something he should be more relaxed about.

* * *

"Movie night~!"

"Not so fast, stupid frog! If you want your movie night, go and bake some popcorns."

"Gero! Why do I have to do it?"

"Because Fuyuki and I are preparing other snacks and drinks. Make yourself useful already."

Grudgingly, Keroro and Tamama went on to prepare the snacks, Tamama being extra happy about it for more than just one reason. Kururu had offered to set up the DVD; as they were preparing to watch the movie, Koyuki and Dororo dropped in as well.

"Good evening, Giroro-kun."

"Ah, Dororo. Glad to see you're here too."

"Hello, Giroro!" Koyuki greeted energetically, instantly running off to give her school colleague a hug. Giroro suppressed his jealousy, knowing it was silly of him. Koyuki had never given him any reason to act hostile to her; well, aside from actualyl caring for Natsumi a lot, a crime of which he was guilty the most.

"Giroro-kun, are you alright? You look kind of nervous."

"Ah, I'm fine Dororo. Don't worry about it." To be honest, Giroro _was_ a little nervous. While chances were they'd all simply watch a movie together, he couldn't' stop thinking about Natsumi and her behavior lately. She'd almost been too friendly. If he didn't know her as well as he did now, he's have thought she was up to no good. Too much time in the army does it to you.

"OK guys, we're all set!" Fuyuki announced. In less than a minute, five Keronians and three humans assembled themselves in front of the TV, either on the couch or on the floor, or even the coffee table, surrounded by an unhealthy amount of snacks and drinks. Giroro shyly sat next to Natsumi's legs on the floor, thinking he could at least be close to her this way and being a bit too self conscious at the moment to sit on the couch right next to her.

Dororo, however, fixed that situation pretty quickly for him.

"Giroro, what are you doing down there? Come sit next to us."

There was a free spot between Natsumi and Dororo, with Koyuki sitting by her blue friend's side and looking almost knowingly at Giroro – even before Giroro could try to interpret it as intentional, Koyuki gave him a knowing wink. Giroro blushed and, without a word, sat next to Dororo. He didn't know the word of his crush has spread all the way to the Pekoponian ninja but was glad to see she was seemingly giving it her support.

"I'm popping in the DVD~" Kururu announced.

"What is it that we're watching again?" Natsumi asked, nearly making Fuyuki flip over.

"Sis, it's Alien, A-li-en! It is the first part of a very famous movie series by James Cameron, Ridley Scott and it is—"

"Don't spoil it all now, Fuyuki-dono! I wanna see it by myself!"

"Could it be that none of you have seen this movie before?!" Fuyuki was practicalyl heartbroken.

"Give it a rest Fuyuki, that's why we're watching it now." Natsumi finally interrupted.

"Well, alright – just be warned, some of you might find it a bit scary."

"S-scary?" Tamama immediately used this as an excuse to hold on to Keroro.

The atmosphere itself in the movie was rather tense, and soon, there were no more laughs nor voices filled the room; everybody was intently watching the screen, fully concentrated on the plot. Only Kururu seemed to be enjoying it in an entirely different way, letting out a delightful giggle every once in a while.

Giroro kept his eyes peeled to the screen – the plot seemed rather interesting and though he usually wasn't much into watching movies, this one was definitely to his liking. There would be fights, weapons and somewhere in there must've been a badass alien. It was strange how, despite trying to invade Pekopon all the time, he automatically took their side.

Once an alien came bursting out of a man's stomach though, he didn't find it strange at all. In unison, Tamama and Keroro screamed as loud as possible, making the movie impossible to hear for a moment and held onto each other for dear life; it wasn't the scene as much as their desperate screams that made everyone else jerk or yell out, all of them having already been quite unnerved by the face-hugger creature.

It was Natsumi's reaction, of course, that caught Giroro much more unprepared than any scary creature encountered so far in the movie or any screams produced by anyone. She had quite literally grabbed him, as if he were a pillow, and pressed him to her chest. Trying to fight against fainting from both delight and the lack of air, Giroro barely spoke:

"N-Natsumi—what—"

"It's scary!" Natsumi justified immediately. Her voice was slightly panicked from the recent scare. "Please, just bear with me for a little while!" She weakened her embrace, though, allowing him to sit in her lap comfortably, but still held on to him firmly. Giroro all but forgot about the movie, not seeing or hearing anything, not feeling anything but Natsumi's arms wrapped around him. Everything around him went completely blank for the next several minutes, and if it were not for another jerk Natsumi gave at some scene, he'd spend the rest of the movie in that comatose state.

Readjusting himself in her lap, Giroro tried again to concentrate on the movie but realized he… he simply couldn't. He couldn't do it. He was as tense as a bowstring, sweating a bit too much for good taste, and knew he'd soon start trembling from sheer nervousness, which Natsumi was definitely going to notice. And that was the last thing he wanted; she'd think he's sick, or scared or _weak_. He frowned as that word echoed in his head and desperately wondered what he was supposed to do.

"…_Even if it's silly little thing like this; it's where the charm of it lies."_

Natsumi's words started echo in his head. Small things. Charm in the small things.

_ "Well, since you frogs apparently DO plan on having an actual vacation, you might as well relax, no?"_

Relax. That's what he needed to do, what he wanted to do, but how? What was the secret to relaxing? Giroro thought and thought, and only after he's been thinking about it for way too many minutes did he realize that was exactly what the problem is.

_Why am I thinking everything through so much when I'm with you, Natsumi? Well, of course, I know. It is your fault, Natsumi, the stupid way you've made me adore you. My thoughts are messed up when you with me, like this. Why are we even like this? Whatever made you want to hold me? It's how you hold someone much closer to you, isn't it? I certainly can't relax with you embracing me. Now I'm again thinking too much! What should I do?!_

Then again, Giroro reasoned… it _was_ comfortable. It _was_ nice. If he could just stop thinking about it… and suddenly Giroro decided to simply enjoy what has been given to him at that moment. He tried not to think about the fact Natsumi was hugging him, but simply enjoy that hug. He didn't think about how close they were at the moment, but rather enjoyed the sensation of her warm body against his. And in the end, he didn't think about what was going through her head, for he'd have plenty of time to do so later if he really had to, and it was pointless to do so now, anyway.

In that moment, Giroro felt truly happy like he didn't in quite some time.

The rest of the movie passed rather comfortably. Natsumi simply refused to let go of him, even though she remained fairly calm for the rest of the movie. And while Giroro still occasionally slipped into a different state of mind, again starting to think a bit too much, again becoming nervous, again wondering why would she hold him this way anyway… he had started learning to adjust. It wasn't as easy for a lover stricken romantic such as him, but he had to admit the interesting plot of the movie helped as he had something else to concentrate on – usually, it was just him, suddenly holding hands with her. Suddenly being embraced, suddenly having the privilege of Natsumi's hands touching him. All he wanted was enjoy her company the way normal person could.

He'd always adore her touch.

Her touch would make him nervous until the last one he'd be given.

Her hugs would always be his favorite thing in the world.

He would never stop hoping for something more than just friendship, as futile and silly as he knew it was.

But he couldn't keep getting nervous from as much as her appearing in the same room he was in.

Giroro had at that moment realized he had yet to learn to be her _friend_.

And with that realization on his mind, Giroro, with challenge in his eyes, stared the movie down with concentration all the way to its end.

* * *

"That was surprisingly good, Fuyuki." Natsumi admitted once the credits rolled. "I mean, you told me the movie is pretty old. I was expecting silly looking dolls and old fashioned actors."

"Well, it's not THAT much behind. I'm glad you liked it, though! It is one of my favorite series. I'm not sure what mum would say about it, come to think of it..."

"I found it highly artistic and filled to brim with subliminal." Kururu unexpectedly said and, often as it was, nobody really understood his taste.

"That was way too scary, Fuyuki-dono! Why would you pack something like this into a description of a sci-fi classic? It was terrifying! I'll have to buy some extra Gunpla to try and evade nightmares!"

"That's because it IS a sci-fi classic, Serg…"

The rest of the evening was spent in the pleasant chit chat and finishing the snacks, until the clock stroke 11 pm. It was already quite late and Tamama realized he had yet to go home. Koyuki and Dororo offered to walk him home, greeted everyone and they left soon after; the rest of the Platoon slowly retreated to their quarters and Fuyuki returned to his room, still ecstatic about how much everybody liked the movie, already thinking what should they be watching next.

Giroro and Natsumi remained alone in the room, munching on some of the remaining chips.

"That was quite good, don't you think Giroro?"

"Y-yeah…"

"I was surprised to see how interesting those silly sci-fi movies can get. And for such an oldie, they really made the alien look superb. I might as well check out the sequel-"

"Natsumi!"

"Mm? What is it, Giroro?"

"Umm… nothing, sorry. You were saying?"

And so, still sitting on the knee of probably-but-hopefully-not-oblivious Natsumi, Giroro kept listening to her opinion of the movie; despite promising himself he'd act more relaxed and loosen up around her and despite knowing he shouldn't for his own good, he once more helplessly allowed himself to get lost in the wonderful sensation her vicinity gave him, absorbing every singly movement of her hands, every twinkle in her eyes and every swish of her hair with concentration much better than the one he gave to the movie.


	4. Can I help you?

It had been two days since the movie gathering in the Hinata household. For a certain Corporal, these two days were filled with passive, calm bliss brought on by the recent and quite unexpected friendly interaction with Hinata Natsumi and the alien couldn't help but daydream a bit more than usually about the red headed human. He was, however, still determined in his intention to become proper friends with her – something that could hardly be achieved if he was going to be flustered around her all the time. As such, he took extra care to stop speaking in stutters whenever she so much as said '_good morning'_. And for a short while, he believed he was doing pretty well. Just now, Natsumi had asked him if he wanted some tea. The two had a nice short conversation and Giroro found himself not stuttering once. Silly as it was, for him, it was quite an accomplishment. In some time, he figured, he might even make more of an actual, proper progress.

But determined as he was in his intentions, his hot headed, romanticized, passionately in-love heart and mind couldn't simply sit tight and watch calmly as Mutsumi Saburo walked over the house door step, flustered Natsumi inviting him in.

"I'm glad you could make it, Saburo-senpai!" He heard her say, a newly discovered pitch height in her voice. His fingers clutches around the teacup he was still gripping. Were it not for the little self control he had left, it would likely break underneath his fingers.

"Think nothing of it, Natsumi-san. If anything, I'm glad I have company to work on the summer homework with." He chuckled and gave her a friendly smile.

Despite not saying anything remotely funny, Natsumi let out a short, nervous laugh, accompanied with a high pitch of her voice that sounded anything but natural. Saburo, though, didn't seem to be either annoyed or attracted by her behavior – he always carried that simple, cool smile of his, that nice, decent, slimy, horrible bast—

Giroro shook his head violently; he was making way too big of a deal out of this and he didn't find himself being capable of controlling it. He stared at the bottom of his teacup, trying to concentrate on counting the few tea leaves on the bottom of it that somehow escaped the teabag.

"W-would you like some tea, Saburo-san?"

"That would be great, thank you."

The cup cracked in Giroro's fingers and he hastily put it down on the coffee table.

Saburo gave Giroro a short '_yo'_ as he noticed him, which Giroro returned with a short nod, successfully suppressing the urge to launch at the boy and kick him out of the house. Instead, he calmly went into the kitchen, put the cup into the sink then intended to head back into his tent. That's what friends do, right? Give some space to each other, right? Let her give Saburo his cup and calmly watch as his hand accidentally touches hers—

Giroro raged on the inside and without further ado, sat down on the couch, joining Fuyuki and Keroro in watching some show he had no intention on following; but Hell if he was going to retreat to his tent and let Saburo do what he will. Natsumi and Saburo came soon after him, carrying their tea and preparing to study, setting down some textbooks and papers on the coffee table.

"Fuyuki, would you mind turning the volume down a bit? We're about to study."

"No prob." Fuyuki lazily said, despite Keroro's protests; he didn't seem quite so into the show as much as he was thinking about what he's likely seen on TV. Keroro slumped back on the couch, dissatisfied.

Giroro warily observed the two out of the corner of his eye, not entirely sure what he was up to or what was he watching out for. All he knew was that he couldn't stand the thought of them together like that.

Minutes passed as the two started working on some math problems. Saburo seemed entirely immersed into explaining Natsumi some of the more difficult tasks, while Natsumi's attention seemed to be divided – at times, she seemed fully concentrated on the tasks, yet every once in a while, she'd look at Saburo with a mix of admiration and something else, something sparkly in her eyes, smiling a sweet smile of hers. Despite the fact he absolutely hated the situation, it consoled Giroro, in a strange way, that she hadn't graced Saburo with one of _those _smiles. _Those _smiles, that had somehow ended up being given to him, of all people, Giroro selfishly wanted to keep for himself, even though he had no idea what was it that made them so different than the rest of her blissful expressions.

Another one of Natsumi's laughs filled out the room and Giroro almost panicked out of sheer ignorance of what prompted her to laugh. If he already HAD to follow Natsumi around like this, he might as well use it as an opportunity to contain his emotions. Following her around didn't feel nice in the first place.

_Baby steps_, Giroro consoled himself and paid his attention to the television again – Keroro started changing channels at random and had left it at some movie. It was, luckily for Giroro, an action flick that contained enough weapons to keep Giroro occupied.

Some time later, he had named at least eight different weapons and counted at least twelve ways in which each of the props in the movie weren't faithful to the original, annoying Keroro out of his mind with his non-indulgent approach to the movie, when he heard Saburo saying:

"Well Natsumi, I think you got the math down. Should we start with the essays now? They could take a while so we should at least come up with our drafts for today."

"Mm-hm, sounds good!" Natsumi put her math notes away and propped a big, fat book on the coffee table, huffing as she did. The book was at least thrice as big as an average book. "Man, there's just way too much of material." She complained. "I hope I don't completely screw this essay up. Eikichi-sensei wasn't exactly pleased with the last one."

"Oh? What was it he disliked?" Saburo inquired. His honest interest made Natsumi's cheeks redden and Giroro's fists clench.

"W-well, he said my take on the '_significant battles of First World War' _ is too generic. In all honesty, I don't know what he expected of us. I wasn't there; I don't know exactly what happened." Natsumi bit her cheek in mild annoyance. Saburo laughed.

"I got the similar treatment the first time I was writing essays for him; he's very strict. He usually doesn't like students directly taking information from the book, but has them discuss what they read."

"That may be so, but still…" Natsumi looked a bit down, and if it weren't for Saburo's instant intervention to raise her spirits, Giroro swore he would be there to do so instead.

"Don't lose hope, Natsumi-san! I'm sure you'll manage." Saburo encouraged. Natsumi, redness still lingering in her cheeks, nodded. "Mm!"

They both got to extracting the key information from the huge book. About twenty minutes passed before they finished and they got to writing down essay ideas and thoughts. In the following moments, Saburo had started writing his essay fairly quickly, not seeming to have any trouble putting his thoughts on paper, while Natsumi seemed to be struggling, constantly erasing anything she'd write down. Giroro eyed her worriedly; there was a familiar, small frown between her brown eyes, the same one she'd give Keroro when he was up to something annoying.

"Ah… can't… so _bothersome_… "Giroro heard her mumbling quietly to herself as she yet again erased the words she wrote down; having done so dozens of times by now, the paper couldn't take it anymore and it ripped with a loud sound, loud enough for every head in the room to look at her.

"Natsumi-dono, why are you ripping your homework?" Keroro asked in a moment of innocent ignorance. Natsumi blushed; her eyes were glued to Giroro's for a moment that was as short as her temper, and she quickly crumpled the ripped paper, putting it aside.

"Are you OK, Natsumi?" Saburo asked – he looked confused. Natsumi panicked as she tried to give him the best of her nervous smiles.

"I-I'm fine! I just got a very good idea, and I got so excited that I accidentally ripped the paper! Ha-ha!"

"Oh, haha! Well, that's good! I'm glad you're making progress." Saburo smiled sincerely and continued writing his essay, a small smile on his face. Natsumi suddenly got to writing and Giroro was happy to see she wasn't stuck after all – truth to be told, they immediately caught his interest once Natsumi spoke out the words '_battles'_ and '_war'_ so he couldn't help but listen to the rest of the conversation. He was however wondering why Natsumi was still carrying that semi-worried expression on her face – she'd written quite a lot in the next half an hour.

It was almost evening when they were done with the homework and Saburo stuck around for another cup of tea and a short chat, much to Natsumi's joy. Giroro managed not to act upon his selfish thoughts and as such, decided with heavy heart this would be the next step into improving his relationship with Natsumi - not to distract them. Natsumi seemed happy to finally have a chance to simply talk to her crush and as much as Giroro disliked the fact that crush was Saburo, he knew it would be futile to try to prevent anything. The only thing it would do is make Natsumi angry. And if he had to choose between happy Natsumi and angry Natsumi, the choice wasn't really hard to make.

"Thank you for the company and the tea, Natsumi-san."

"Ah, no-no, thank _you_, Saburo-senpai - after all, it was you who helped me with everything."

"Like I said, it was nothing. This was really fun! We should do it again sometime."

"Definitely!" Natsumi agreed, promptly sending Giroro's heart into his stomach.

The moment Saburo left, Natsumi had started acting odd. The remnants of her smile were all gone, replaced by the familiar, upset frown. She picked up her school material so fast that a few papers flew out, but she didn't seem to notice – instead she dashed, giving a quick apology to her mother for bumping into her and ran up to her room.

"N-Natsumi, the papers—!" Giroro tried to yell after her, but she either didn't her him or ignored him.

"Man, Natsumi-dono is acting suspicious today. I wonder what's eating her away." Keroro's voice got slightly malicious.

"It must be something about Mutsumi-san," Fuyuko offered, "though I don't know what's bothering her. Everything seemed just fine between them."

Giroro sighed and looked down at the papers, picking them up. He thought he might at least carry these to her, when he noticed the title on the first one paper – it was her essay.

Only, it wasn't.

Aside from the title and two to three introduction sentences that seemed copied out of the book, the rest of the text had apparently had nothing to do with the essay at all. It took merely a glance through it to freeze – in several places, there was Saburo's name, but what surprised him much more than that, there was also his own. He noticed it easily, clearly written, three characters representing his name. At least written once - he looked away from it before he could read anything coherent.

As much as he wanted to, as he _needed_ to see what was written, he figured he had no right reading something she wrote. It would be horrible of him, he knew it. Then again, she'd never have to know. What was it that she wrote about him? Why was it that his name was on the paper? What could she possibly write about him?

_Is that how a friend would act? _A little voice asked. It sounded much like his younger self.

Giroro folded the papers in his hands. There was no way he could do it. He loved her, God knew he did and while that exact reason was why he both wanted and didn't want to read the text, he knew that he couldn't simply because it was the right thing to do.

Besides, it was likely something random – Giroro had no idea why would she write anything important containing his name – but the real question was, why wasn't there a good essay written down; where was the idea she had happily claimed to have before?

Deciding not to question it any further, as it really wasn't his business, he got up the stairs and walked up to Natsumi's room – because of the hot summer air, the door to it were open -and peeked in. Natsumi was sitting at her desk, staring at some papers and mumbling something for herself, clearly frustrated. Giroro was about to give a knock to her door, merely to attract her attention, when Natsumi abruptly got up, angrily yelling out "**ah, enough of this already!**" and gave a hard swing to whatever she held in her hand – and it happened to fly straight into Giroro's forehead.

Giroro gave a comical flip accompanied with a surprised and painful yelp and rolled away until he hit the wall across Natsumi's room and slid to the floor, papers scattering around him. Damn, she had a good swing. It made his heart beat with pride. He could hear her gasp and feel the floor vibrate with her footsteps as she ran up to him.

"Giroro!? I'm so sorry! Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, Natsumi…" Giroro winced a bit at the still present, sharp pain between above his left eye. It didn't hit the scar, thankfully so – as Giroro touched the wound, a small wet smudge appeared on his finger. It was but a small scratch, but Natsumi stared at it in pure horror.

"Ah! P-please Giroro, hold on for just one moment!" She rushed away to the bathroom and Giroro could but listen to her. He looked around and noticed it was a metal pencil sharpener that she threw at him. No wonder there was a scratch. He finished gathered up the papers just as she got back with a handkerchief. She proceeded to pull him into her own room, which he found to be one of those rare blissful moments – he didn't have time to enjoy it thoroughly though, as she suddenly sat him down and knelt.

"Hold still!"

"N-Natsumi, I'm fine, I can—"

Of course she'd do it for him. Of course she would.

Giroro was afraid he'd get used to these touches. It wasn't like Natsumi to touch him this way; it wasn't like her to hold one of his shoulders, likely in a mute attempt to tell him to hold still. He wasn't used to her face leaning in so much, merely out of sheer concentration to what she was doing, gently wiping at the scratch on his forehead. He shyly looked away before finally giving in o his preferences and peeked at her dface. While he tried to stay calm, he couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of her eyes or stop the redness that crept into his cheeks. Her face was too close.

Simply too close.

Natsumi sighed as she removed the handkerchief and Giroro remembered how to breathe again as her face distanced from his. Just like Giroro thought; very few red spots defiled the handkerchief and the pain had already slipped away by now. Natsumi sighed.

"I'm really sorry, Giroro."

Giroro got up, waving his hand. "You don't need to worry about it. I've been through tougher things." He smiled reassuringly. Natsumi tried to return the smile, but it was a rather tired attempt.

"Natsumi, what's wrong?"

"Ah, it's just… homework." Natsumi replied shortly – which, in turn, reminded Giroro why he got up here in the first place.

"Ah, right!" He handed her the papers. "These fell out from your notes."

The moment she noticed the fake essay she had written, Natsumi pulled at the papers harshly and her eyes widened as she hastily asked:

"You didn't read this, did you?"

Giroro paused, even more curious than before. Why in the world would she be so upset about it?

"I didn't Natsumi, but…" He thought carefully about what he was going to say. There was no way he could inquire about what she had written. "I _have_ noticed you didn't write about the topic. I just accidentally stole a glance of it, that's all."

Natsumi relaxed upon hearing that, but then she looked embarrassed.

"Natsumi, why didn't you ask Saburo to help you?" Giroro inquired once she didn't say anything. The red headed girl sighed.

"Because it is embarrassing, that's why!" She finally said, frustrated. „Saburo-senpai is so smart, and everything we ever do in school in easy for him. He practically wrote out the whole essay today, and I… I just didn't want to look like a fool. So I pretended to write out one." She finished miserably.

"N-Natsumi!" Upon hearing his surprised tone, Natsumi looked up at the Keronian.

"What?"

"How can you ever say that? You're anything but a fool, I've witnessed that many times."

"I know I am _not_, I just didn't want Saburo-senpai to think so." Natsumi blushed. A familiar sting landed upon Giroro's heart, but he ignored it. "And now I have to think of a really good essay, or else he'll think I'm a total idiot."

A short silence ensued. "That won't happen!" Giroro suddenly announced, getting up. "I could—" He stopped himself in time and suddenly blushed, slightly astonished at what he nearly proposed. "Nah, never mind."

"Mm? What is it, Giroro? Could it be you have an idea on what might help me?!" Natsumi asked, bewildered. "Oh, please Giroro, anything will do!"

Giroro seriously doubted she'd be satisfied with his reply. He hesitated.

"… you'll laugh." He finally said, and that made Natsumi frown.

"Will not! I could use any help I can—"

"What if I told I am the one who could help you write your essay?" Giroro blurted out shyly, clenching his fists in an attempt to remain calm. Much like he thought she would, Natsumi's eyes immediately changed into that suspicious gaze she usually kept in store for Keroro. He scoffed.

"See? Just as I thought."

"Ah, wait, well… you must admit I have the right to be surprised!" Natsumi defended. Giroro had to hand it to her. He probably didn't seem like the sort that could help with an essay.

"I guess you have a point. Still, I'm offering you my assistance, if you need any."

"Well… alright, then. Let's try it." She finally agreed, though obviously reluctantly. Natsumi sat at her desk. Giroro followed, swiftly climbing onto it and making himself comfortable as he flipped the heavy book open – that book was nearly bigger than he was.

"Page 394." Natsumi informed. Giroro saw the name of the familiar topic.

"Second World War." Giroro mused and looked at a random point in the air, having a reminiscent-like look in his eyes. "Certainly, one of the deadliest conflicts in Pekoponian history. Four years of warring, all because ideals of a madman. Millions of dead. Bloodshed that flourished on the foundation of the horrors the First World War left behind."

Natsumi gazed at Giroro, astonished by the unusually poetic words of the warrior sitting on her desk. "Wha—That was pretty… nice." She clumsily said. "How do you even know about wars on Earth?"

"Hmpf." Giroro scoffed. "Ever since I've come to this planet, I've been informing myself. Invasion of Pekopon is one of our priorities – well, at least it should be," he grumbled, "and as such, it was necessary of me to learn of your tactics and strategies, strengths and weaknesses – your history has a great insight into it." He crossed his hands. "I guess that's not something you'd expect from a soldier to do, huh?"

"N-not really." Natsumi admitted, quite surprised. Giroro shrugged.

"You Pekoponians have a long tradition of warring over the dumbest things. It is almost like you enjoy eradicating your own species."

"Humans are complicated, I'll give you that much." Natsumi sighed.

"Indeed you are. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Natsumi repeated. "Because… well, I think we care too much about ourselves. That is in the terms of nations, I… I guess each one is simply too proud of itself." She frowned as she tried to put her opinion out, looking for the right words. "I mean, just because we're of different nationalities and such, doesn't mean we're all not people. Plus, do you have any idea how this war influenced many generations to come? It all seems so unnecessary."

"Excellent point." Giroro complimented. "Why are you not writing it down?"

"What? That's not what Eikichi-sensei wants! He wants an essay to check our knowledge and—"

"Well, what _did _he say he wants?

"We're supposed to tackle any subject that is in some way connected to the Second World War and write about it in detail." Natsumi repeated the teacher's very words.

"There you have it. You clearly have an opinion on how war affected people. It affected you and you weren't even there. Search for interviews and surviving witnesses on your computer. Write about what war left behind. About people it hurt, people it left yearning for revenge. About the misery it caused, happiness it brought once they were over and done with it and bitter taste it left for many years to come." Giroro's voice got unusually quiet and as Natsumi wrote down some notes for her essay, she had to nudge him to bring him back to reality.

"Giroro. Are you alright?"

"Ah." He looked her in the eyes. He almost wandered off. "It's nothing, Natsumi. Just some old memories, that's all." He gave her a hearty, sincere smile. There were many scars, that many of wars he participated in, have left on his heart; but those scars were closed up a long time ago, his heart hardened and his thoughts dedicated to the memories he'd always cherish. He didn't have a problem telling anyone about it, but sometimes, his memories would take a different turn into the darker corners of his past.

Luckily, Natsumi was here for him this time. He needed nothing more. Clearing his throat, he motioned towards the paper.

"So, do you think you can write about that?"

"I… I guess I could. In all honesty it is the part I can write the most about just off the top of my head." Natsumi admitted. Then she sniggered. "Warring with you frogs every day has taught me plenty about it."

Giroro chuckled. "I guess we're good at least for something."

"Hey, Giroro."

"Mm?"

"Thank you for your help. You really are a great friend."

And there it was. _That_ smile. Completely flustered by the gorgeous sight, Giroro tried looking anywhere but at her, but that smile seemed to be the polar opposite of his eyes, as they couldn't leave her lips.

"I-it's really nothing, Natsumi, I just gave you one advice."

"No, I mean it." Natsumi added, only making the corporal even more embarrassed. Tracing random circles with her pencil, Natsumi proceeded to ask:

"Think you could… stay here and help me some more? I'm not sure how helpful this book might be. Plus it takes a lot of time looking for the right thing."

How could he ever refuse when she was gracing him with that smile of hers?

"Sure Natsumi."

And so, Corporal Giroro had an insight into what was it like doing homework with the girl you love. He knew for sure Mutsumi Saburo didn't enjoy it half as much as he did, because unlike with Saburo, Natsumi wasn't shyly quiet or nervous. Instead, she was chatty, friendly and relaxed.

For that alone, it was worth not being on the receiving end of love.


End file.
